Andropogon lateralis is a tall and highly plastic tussock-forming grass native from southern South America. It is a frequent component of Campos and Subtropical highland grasslands that often becomes dominant under lax grazing regimes. The aim of this work was to analyze the response of species diversity and forage production of a natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis to a wide range of grazing intensity. We hypothesized that species diversity and forage production would both peak at the intermediate canopy heights determined by grazing regimes of moderate intensity. A grazing experiment was conducted in a highland grassland with mesothermal humid climate at 922 masl (Atlantic Forest biome, Santa Catarina state, Brazil) that comprised 87 species from 20 families but had 50% of its standing biomass accounted by A. lateralis. Four pre-/post-grazing canopy heights—12/7, 20/12, 28/17, and 36/22 cm (measured on A. lateralis)—were arranged in a complete randomized block design with four replications, and intermittently stocked with beef heifers from October 2015 to October 2017. Andropogon lateralis cover decreased (from 75 to 50%), and species richness increased (15–25 species m−2) as canopy height decreased. Grazing intensity did not affect annual forage production (4.2 Mg DM ha−1). This natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis had a high capacity to adjust to grazing regimes of contrasting intensity, maintaining forage production stable over a wide range of canopy heights. However, to prevent losses in floristic diversity, such grassland should not be grazed at canopy heights higher than 28 cm.
The objective of this work was to evaluate tiller dynamics and population stability of Andropogon lateralis in a natural pasture subjected to grazing height management under intermittent stocking method. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with four treatments and four replicates, in 16 experimental units of 875 m² each. The treatments consisted of four pre-grazing heights of A. lateralis (12, 20, 28, and 36 cm), which was grazed until its initial height was reduced by 40%. Dynamics of tiller birth and death were evaluated using the marked tiller technique over a period of 18 months, from October 2015 to March 2017. The results indicate that the use of different heights for the management of natural pastures does not affect the stability of the tiller population of A. lateralis and that, regardless of the management strategy, the persistent pathway of this species is mainly based on the maintenance of high-tiller survival rates.
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